Khadija Shaw broke Albion hearts with an 89th-minute winner as Manchester City took the WSL points at the Broadfield Stadium.
Albion produced arguably their best performances of the season against a side unbeaten in 13 matches and looked to have picked up a valuable point thanks to Elisabeth Terland’s first-half goal.
Albion had to defend in depth at times, particularly in the second half, and goalkeeper Meg Walsh made some superb saves but they were denied a share of the spoils as the prolific Shaw scored her 25th and 26th goals of the season.
It had been City – unbeaten in the league since September – who made the better start with Shaw and Lionesses star Chole Kelly missing chances in the opening four minutes.
But Albion gradually settled and Vea Sarri was denied by a marginal offside flag when she belted a shot past Sandy MacIver in the 12th minute.
It was City who went in front though, with Shaw scoring her 14th league goal of the season in the 21st minute when she tapped in after Yui Hasegawa’s shot fell to her. Shaw looked comfortably offside, but the flag stayed down.
Geum-min Lee became the second Albion player to be frustrated by the offside flag when she bundled the ball home at our first corner, but the hosts did draw level in the 33rd minute. Lee clipped the ball down the inside-left channel to Terland. The Norwegian striker still had a lot to do but she cut inside, held off a defender then curled a right-foot shot past Sandy MacIver and inside the far post.
An absorbed crowd settled in for more in the second half: City pressing and Albion trying to hit them on the counter. From one move, involving Lee and Poppy Pattinson, Terland tested MacIver with a low shot while Laura Coombs should have restored City’s lead but didn’t get enough contact on Kelly’s perfect cross.
Lee had a great game and another pass by the South Korean set up Katie Robinson for an effort on goal which MacIver blocked at the near post. With an hour played it was hard to call a winner but Walsh continued to excel, tipping a ferociously-struck shot by Kelly over the bar.
Kelly threatened again but dragged a shot wide of the far post after getting in behind and with four minutes to go, having switched to the left, she cut inside and Walsh was relieved to see her well-struck effort fly wide.
Albion looked to have done enough to claim a precious point but in the 90th minute Shaw scored again. After a bout of pinball in the home box the ball dropped for the striker to turn and place her shot inside the far post.
There were five minutes of stoppage time but Albion, who had given everything, couldn’t find another goal.
Albion: Walsh, Connolly (Bance 66), Bergsvand, Morse, Kullberg, Pattinson, Sarri (Fox 88), Zigiotti, Robinson, Lee, Terland (Carter 81).
Subs not used: L. Williams, V. Williams, Park, Visalli, Startup.
Attendance: 3500